New Zealand Rugby take legal action against incoming NRL club

New Zealand Rugby says it has tried and failed to engage the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) on the matter of the NRL’s expansion team, the PNG Chiefs, sharing IP with the Super Rugby Pacific club of the same name. As a result, the union has taken the matter to the High Court of New Zealand.

The PNG Chiefs’ official launch, including the unveiling of their official logo, is scheduled for later this month, but NZR’s concerns, which IP Australia also shares, about potential confusion between the two clubs in an overlapping sports market will now need to be settled through a legal process. NZR has owned trademarks for the ‘Chiefs’ name and club logo in New Zealand since 1998, and has also held trademark protection for the Chiefs logo in Australia.

A statement released by the union this week stated: “NZR is seeking both an interim and final injunction which stops the use of the names ‘PNG Chiefs’, ‘Chiefs’ or any other similar names in New Zealand.”

IP Australia’s view is that there is “real and tangible danger of confusion” should the new rugby league outfit’s launch go ahead as planned with the name ‘PNG Chiefs’.

The expansion into Papua New Guinea is a milestone moment for the NRL and, more broadly, for rugby league’s growth in the Pacific, something NZR said it supported when announcing the legal action. However, the union also said that having two rugby clubs, albeit different codes, operating under the same name in the same region “will cause significant confusion and damage.”

“For 30 years the Chiefs and their players have built an incredibly strong identity that is widely recognised and loved by fans. We have raised our concerns with the ARLC directly and consistently over the last year in attempting to find a resolution. We now have a responsibility to protect the Chiefs brand,” said NZR CEO Steve Lancaster.

“We want to be absolutely clear, this is not about rugby league’s growth in the Pacific. We welcome the development of the Pacific region through sport and the passion that the people of Papua New Guinea have for both rugby and rugby league.”

Chiefs CEO Simon Graafhuis added: “Here in New Zealand, when people hear ‘the Chiefs’, they think of this club and this region. The identity carries significant cultural meaning and connection to the region and its people, we know it means a great deal to our players and coaches past and present, fans and supporters here and around the world.

“Teams in different sports and markets can exist alongside one another with the same name, but the issue here is the similarity of our sports competing in the same market, for the same fans, in overlapping windows.”

The move didn’t go down well with ARLC Executive Chairman Peter V’landys, who offered an impassioned retort.

“We will defend this vigorously,” he said in a statement.

“The hypocrisy is mind-blowing, considering the Auckland Blues in 1996 used the NSW Blues name without any consultation or approval. The NSW Blues had been the Blues for in excess of 50 years before that.”